Michelle Liu/Associated Press/Report for America

South Carolina lawmakers have heard public testimony over a proposal to redraw the state's U.S. House districts that scales back the sweeping changes suggested in an earlier map. The House's suggested map doesn't significantly redraw the boundaries of the state's existing districts and resembles a proposal put forth by a Senate committee last month. Early analysis shows the state would likely continue to elect six Republicans and one Democrat to the U.S. House with those districts. Some critics testified Wednesday that the new proposal splits up Charleston County to make the coastal 1st District less competitive and dilutes Black voting power.

Speaking publicly for the first time in months, the prominent South Carolina attorney accused of a slew of mostly financial crimes after his wife and son were found shot dead blamed some of his problems on a 20-year-long opiate addiction shortly before a judge set bond at $7 million. Judge Alison Renee Lee said in a Monday hearing that Alex Murdaugh must post the entire $7 million bond, not just a fraction of it, to go on house arrest. Prosecutors say Murdaugh stole more than $6 million from about a dozen clients between 2015 and 2020 by using a fraudulent bank account to divert settlement and other money to himself. Murdaugh's attorneys have indicated they'll ask the judge to consider a lower bond amount.

A South Carolina mother is suing a day care operator after a worker was caught on camera grabbing a toddler by the arm and swinging him into classroom furniture. Ashana Odom's lawyer, Justin Bamberg says this is the second time he's helped parents sue The Sunshine House after a worker has been charged with child neglect. He says the facility's track record shows the childcare company needs to shut the Aiken center down.

A South Carolina House committee on Tuesday approved a proposed map to shape the state's House districts for the next decade.

Authorities have released 911 calls made by prominent South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh and two motorists after a Sept. 4 roadside shooting in which a bullet grazed Murdaugh's head. A woman passerby says on one call she saw a man bloodied and waving his hands on the roadside but she didn't stop because it looked — in her words — "like a setup." Police have since charged Murdaugh with insurance fraud, saying he tried to have himself killed so his surviving son could collect $10 million in life insurance payouts. The recordings were released Friday and in one Murdaugh says someone shot him when he stopped for a flat tire.

A prominent civil rights attorney is calling on a South Carolina prosecutor to revisit a case and criminally charge the two jail employees who stunned a mentally ill Black man 10 times and kneeled on his back until he stopped breathing. Ninth Circuit Solicitor Scarlett Wilson previously said the Charleston County jail deputies who were seen on surveillance video restraining Jamal Sutherland wouldn't face charges because she couldn't prove the guards intended to kill him. Attorney Ben Crump says there's enough evidence to bring involuntary manslaughter charges against the guards, who were both fired in May. Charleston County had also previously agreed to pay a $10 million settlement to Sutherland's family.

The operator of a sprawling federal nuclear reservation in South Carolina says the vast majority of its 5,500 workers are now fully vaccinated against COVID-19 after the company mandated the shots. But nearly 80 Savannah River Site employees who have refused to get inoculated sued Savannah River Nuclear Solutions over the requirement in South Carolina state court Thursday. Employees who don't get inoculated against the highly contagious virus face firing. The federal contractor says 95% of its workers have gotten the shots ahead of a fall deadline so far. Gov. Henry McMaster says he won't issue an executive order to stop South Carolina businesses from requiring vaccines.

Relatives of the Black man shot by a white South Carolina trooper earlier this month say the trooper attempted an illegal traffic stop before the pursuit that led to the man's death. Attorneys for Tristan Vereen's family said at a Wednesday news conference that Master Trooper Whittney Blake Benton pulled Vereen over for a cracked windshield. Attorney Harry Daniels says the windshield wasn't a legal reason so Vereen had the right to resist arrest. Law enforcement officials say the stop was for an equipment violation.

South Carolina lawmakers are weighing testimony from members of the public and doctors about treatments for COVID-19. A panel of lawmakers that oversees medical issues has spent two days this month on the topic as the state continues to grapple with thousands of new cases. Some doctors on Wednesday promoted the use of drugs that haven't been proven to treat COVID-19. Department of Health and Environmental Control Director Dr. Edward Simmer said the agency warns that ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine can be dangerous but can't stop doctors from prescribing the drugs. Simmer told lawmakers the growing demand for the antibody infusions proven to lessen COVID-19 symptoms has also created a temporary supply bottleneck for the treatment.

Health care workers and educators in South Carolina are doubling down on calls for lawmakers to roll back a provision that bans masks in schools. Pediatricians, school nurses and teachers on Tuesday described the toll the coronavirus pandemic is taking on students and in children's hospitals. They want lawmakers to repeal a state rule that prevents school districts from using state money to enforce a rule requiring masks. More than 88,000 students and staff have been quarantined this school year so far. Schools have recorded nearly 21,000 COVID-19 cases this fall, almost 7,000 more than they counted all of last year.